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How To Sell

When I first started my career as an inside sales representative 10+ years ago, I asked myself how do I sell over the phone? I was fresh out of college and really had no experience with sales let alone phone sales. All I really had going for me was that I’m super competitive. I knew that if I put in the work on a consistent basis that I would see results. I didn’t know what kind of results I would see but I figured I could make adjustments the more I learned throughout my career. Here are several tips on how to sell that I’ve learned that should point you in the right direction.

Tips on how to sell

Be honest

First and foremost is to be honest with yourself and the individuals you’re speaking with on the phone. You’ll never achieve your full potential if all you’re doing is lying to people or to yourself.

Have a conversation

You’ll have more fun and be more successful if you focus less on what you can make from the phone call and more on listening to what is actually being said. Be genuinely curious about the person you’re speaking with. You’ll be able to provide a better experience overall, thus making a better sale.

Ask open ended questions

If you’re genuinely curious then this will happen more naturally, but it’s important to fully engage in understanding what the current state is and where they want to go. One way to figure this out is to ask lots of open ended questions to get them talking more.

Solve a problem

It’s the job of the sales person to figure out what the needs are of the prospect they’re calling. Once you know the needs, then it’s important to have an understanding of how it can be solved. If you’re able to do this, then the sale will take care of itself.

Follow up

Did you know that 80% of all sales happen between the 5th and 12th contact? Check out the chart below. It’s pretty amazing that not following up enough times is what hurts your chances the most. I’ll label this as persistence.

Ask for the business

You can’t get what you don’t ask for. That’s sales 101. If you fully qualified the prospect, then this part will be easy but it’s another often missed step in the sales process.

In my opinion, the best thing you can do as a individual is to be yourself and sell with integrity. Ask lots of questions and truly be interested in what is being said by your contact. The most successful sales people, with inside sales, are the individuals that focus on helping the companies or people they’re calling. Once the focus is less about you and more about them, the more success you’ll end up having.

What other tips do you have for how to sell over the phone? You can check out our selling tips section for more sales nuggets.